“In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening withhold not thine hand: for thou knowest not whether shall prosper, either this or that, or whether they both shall be alike good. Truly the light is sweet, and a pleasant thing it is for the eyes to behold the sun: but if a man live many years, and rejoice in them all; yet let him remember the days of darkness for they shall be many.” Ecclesiastes 11: 5 – 7

The industrious, illustrious Mike O’Connor has outdone himself. Not only is he producing a wonderful new monthly Letterpress magazine online, but he has also created a domain to make it easily accessible:http://www.galleygab.net/

The February Galley Gab is out! Articles include a great story about Jim Daggs’ introduction to letterpress as a hobby at age 12. Daggs is the owner of Ackley Publishing, a commercial printing house with several employees. Mike Anderson’s article on typeface design is a concise introduction into “how it’s done”.

Mike publishes The Galley Gab for the APA, but welcomes and encourages readers from all over. Check it out, and do let Mike know what you think!

UPDATE March 3 2008: There’s a new URL for viewing Galley Gab archives. Please see this post to learn more:

There is a new letterpress publication. It isn’t printed letterpress
(!) and it’s not even printed on paper! (What are we coming to?) The
publication’s name is Galley Gab and published by me, Mike
O’Connor.
It’s initial audience is the membership of the Amalgamated Printers’ Association (APA) but subject matter is and will be of interest to all involved in letterpress. It is open to all who are interested in letterpress.

If you wish to see a copy (PDF file—712 KB), send an email TO THE ADDRESS BELOW.

SEND YOUR REQUEST TO:

gg.editor@galleygab.net

I’ve seen the first issue of the Galley Gab, and it is great! Whether your interest is printing, typography or design, do check it out.

For those who have a printing press, the APA (Amalgamated Printers Association) is a wonderful organization that enables the exchange of printed work – inspiring both newbies and pros, and keeping printers connected with one another.

For all kinds of amateur printing, writing and publishing (including desktop), both the AAPA (American Amateur Press Association) and the NAPA (National Amateur Press Association) are really excellent organizations. I’m a member of the AAPA, and the monthly bundles are better than any magazine. The organization is not only family friendly, but family-welcoming, with a special emphasis on attracting members who home-school, providing opportunity to experience and develop their journalism skills, warmly encouraging young people and their work.

Lance Williams, of Williams Stationery Company, hosted a 2007 Calendar Exchange for the LetPress Discussion List. We each printed a calendar page and sent to him, he bundled them and sent the complete pages out to us. There were enough participants to produce 4 unique sets.

The printing expertise and design talent is just amazing. Along with amateurs
like me, there are some true pros here whose work is inspiring. Lance scanned them and put them on line here. My contribution was September in North American Set #2. The calendar blocks came from Les Boyer’s collection, and were last used in 1928!